Recycling

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CEPI, the European association representing the paper industy has been closely monitoring market developments in reaction to the material waste import ban by the Chinese authorities including paper for recycling.

The import restrictions have caused disruption to the European markets and the countries where paper collection is comingled have been the first to be hit. This comingling practice raises the risk of contamination from other materials which can reduce the quality of paper for recycling and technically impede the recycling process.

The European paper industry is making investments and will continue to do so over the coming years in new paper recycling capacities which ensure that high quality paper for recycling remains in Europe. A core component to achieving more recycling in Europe will be to upscale our efforts on implementing European standards on the quality of paper for recycling (EN 643) and the collection of paper seperately from other recyclables.

It is estimated that less than 5% of paper collected in Europe has been directly impacted by the Chinese import waste ban. It nonetheless provides the industry with the impetus to drive forward quality paper for recycling which is effectively recycled in Europe. It is equally an indication that comingled collection systems are no longer sustainable both from an environmental and market perspective in the future.

Note to editor:

CEPI is the European association representing the paper industry at EU level. European paper recycling paper has been a success story with 72.5% of all paper in Europe collected for recycling while 83% (50 milion tonnes) of this recycling is made in European paper mills. Together with 14 other European associations in the paper recycling value chain we are committed to reaching a 74% recycling rate by 2020. Through our participation in the EU-funded project ImpactPapeRec and other means we are proactively seeking means to improve best practices on separate collection across Europe.

An update has been made to the European Paper Recycling Council’s (EPRC) “Assessment of Printed Product Recyclability”.
This Scorecard for the Removability of Adhesive Applications now includes an annex for applications where there is sufficient experience and confidence that they will deliver good results on removability.

Non-water-soluble or non-dispersible hot melt adhesives are now exempted from testing under certain conditions. If an adhesive application does not conform to with the conditions in this annex, no conclusion can be made about its removability.

Note to editor: The European Paper Recycling Council (EPRC) was set up as an industry self-initiative in November 2000 to monitor progress towards meeting the paper recycling targets set out in the 2000 European Declaration on Paper Recycling. Since then the commitments in the Declaration are renewed every five years. In 2017 the EPRC committed itself to meeting and maintaining both a voluntary recycling rate target of 74% in the EU27 plus Switzerland and Norway by 2020 as well as qualitative targets in areas such as waste prevention, ecodesign and research and development. In 2017, Members of the ERPC are ACE, CEPI, CITPA, EMFA, ETS, FEPE, INGEDE and INTERGRAF. Supporters are Afera, EuPIA, FINAT and RadTECH Europe. FEICA, the Association of the European Adhesive and Sealant Industry also recently joined the EPRC as a supporter. DG Environment and DG Grow of the European Commission are permanent observers to the EPRC.

Since 2000, the European paper value chain has been committed to the two-fold aim of increasing recycling and joining efforts to remove obstacles hampering paper recycling in Europe. The signatories of the new European Declaration on Paper Recycling have declared their commitment to reach 74% paper recycling by 2020.

In 2016, 72.5% of all paper consumed in Europe was recycled. Relative to 2015, the collection of paper for recycling increased by 0.9%, reaching 59.5 million tonnes. In parallel, paper
consumption slightly decreased, totalling 82.1 million tonnes. These two factors drove a considerable increase in the recycling rate: from 71.9% in 2015 to 72.5% in 2016.
Significantly, this means collection and recycling of paper has increased by 0.5 million tonnes compared to the base year of the Declaration (2015).
Clearly, an important step has already been taken towards reaching the 2020 target of 74% paper recycling. However, we are now fast approaching our maximum potential, since 22% of paper consumption can neither be collected nor recycled.

Changing consumption patterns are affecting the most recycled paper products. Newspaper consumption continued to decline in 2016. Increased consumption of corrugated boxes, the other most recycled paper product, is only partly compensating the challenge to the overall recycling rate of declining graphic (printing and writing) paper consumption. For the commitment period 2016 to 2020, recycling rate calculations have been independently verified by Deloitte. 2016 also features positive achievements at regional level.

The number of countries with a recycling rate below 60% has further dropped to nine. Equally, 17 countries now have recycling rates exceeding 70%, an increase of three, since 2015. On an international level, Europe continues to be the world champion in paper recycling, followed by North America. Other world regions’ paper recycling rates are improving, but coming from lower levels. In Europe, paper fibres are recycled 3.6 times on average, significantly outperforming the world average of 2.4 times.

While the EU is discussing how to transition to a circular economy, the paper fibre loop can serve as a model for circularity. Paper recycling is an industry ‘Made in Europe’. It prolongs value creation and creates job opportunities in Europe from a renewable, predominantly European resource, wood.

Driving year-on-year improvements in the ease and simplicity of recycling requires a huge effort from the paper value chain. This report details these continuing efforts, underlining the pride in the progress the EPRC has made.

CEPI is one of the signatories of the European Paper Recycling Council (EPRC) and holds its secretariat.

The two-year Horizon 2020 IMPACTPapeRec project is reaching its final stages this month. To this end, a final conference was organised at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 24 January, hosted by Mayor of Coulaines (France), Christophe Rouillon. The conference successfully brought together more than eighty professionals from the waste management and paper industry, as well as policymakers and municipalities.

It included prominent speakers such as Kestutis Sadauskas, the Director in charge of Circular Economy and Green Growth at the European Commission, as well as Laurent Thieule, Director at the Committee of the Regions, who applauded the project’s practical nature and its “on the ground” applicability for European regions.
The project brought together nineteen partners across the value chain from several European countries including those with low recycling rates such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. The project offered them a unique platform to find ways to increase separate collection of paper in the EU. “This project could not be more timely, as the inter-institutional agreement on the revision of the waste package last December has indeed strengthened separate collection” said Kestutis Sadauskas, adding that “separate collection for high quality recycling is particularly important in light of China’s waste import ban”.

Sylvain Lhôte, Director General of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) closed the conference by focusing on the project’s major policy recommendations. He highlighted the Commission’s detailed Guidance on the newly strengthened rules on separate collection in the Waste Directive and the need for collection systems to take into account the EN 643 standard. “In the fight against climate change, we only have a window of a few years to optimise waste management and recycling everywhere in Europe” he noted.

The final conference was followed by a workshop specifically targeted at municipalities, companies and citizens from countries that were not part of the project. Another workshop for entrepreneurs was also organised to encourage new innovative business ventures in the implementation of innovative solutions for paper collection.

The IMPACTPapeRec project is financed by the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme and supports the separate collection of paper commitment of the European Innovation Platform (EIP) on Raw Materials. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 690182.

"A good deal for making the Circular Economy happen in Europe. The challenge now is to ensure effective implementation and avoid multiplication of derogations at national level" says Sylvain Lhôte, Director General of the Confederation of European paper industries

Today 72% of the paper industry’s raw material comes from paper for recycling. Paper is the most recycled product in Europe, and Europe is world leader in paper recycling, followed by North America.

The paper industry has been a driving force in achieving that rate. Since 2000, the European paper value chain has been committed to the two-fold aim of increasing recycling and joining efforts to remove obstacles hampering paper recycling in Europe. As a result, the recycling rate has moved from 50% in 1998 to 72% in 2015. This is a remarkable progress considering the changing consumption patterns, i.e. rapid decrease ub graphic (writing and printing) paper consumption and increased consumption of packaging and sanitary paper. The paper fibre loop offers the current EU-level discussions on the Circular Economy a clear and workable model to be followed. Paper recycling is an industry "Made in Europe". It prolongs value chains and creates green European jobs based on a renewable source.